Of the surgical procedures requiring both peripheral and abdominal entry, some typical examples are abdominal hysterectomy with vaginal plasty, superapubic prostatectomy, laparascopy or peritoneoscopy, tubal ligation, and abdominoperineal resection. In some cases the procedures are performed concurrently by two surgical teams and in all instances proper asceptic technique requires separate fenestrations for the perineal and abdominal areas. While double-fenestrated paper drapes have been known in the past, such drapes have not been well suited for all of such operative procedures, especially those in which distorting forces of substantial magnitude are likely to be imposed on the edge portions defining the fenestrations of the drapes. Should the bridging connection between two fenestrations become broken during surgery, cross contamination would become a real possibility and redraping of the patient would become necessary, thereby interrupting and extending the operative procedure.
This invention involves a recognition of the problem and the discovery of a highly effective solution to it. The result is a multipurpose reinforced double-fenestrated surgical drape formed from non-woven cellulosic material (paper) which is capable of remaining intact despite the forces that might normally be applied to it during any of a variety of abdominal perineal operative procedures. More specifically, the drape is formed from two sheets of such material, one of the sheets having a narrow portion along one marginal edge which is secured in overlapping relation to a like portion of the other sheet to provide a laminated zone of mutual reinforcement. The sheets have a pair of elongated fenestrations arranged in longitudinal alignment on opposite sides of the reinforced zone, each sheet having its fenestration immediately adjacent to the marginal edge of the other sheet. In the disclosed embodiment, each of the sheets is generally rectangular in shape, one being substantially wider than the other, and is symmetrically oriented with respect to the longitudinal midline of the drape as a whole. The laminated zone of reinforcement extends across that midline and the elongated fenestrations extend along it. Such fenestrations are generally rectangular in shape, each fenestration having one end edge immediately adjacent the laminated zone of reinforcement. The result is a relatively inexpensive paper drape with two closely-spaced fenestrations -- a drape in which the bridging portion interposed between such fenestrations is capable of withstanding the forces which might be expected to occur during any of the aforementioned operative procedures despite the non-woven and somewhat fragile nature of the paper material from which the drape is formed and despite the close spacing of the two fenestrations.
Other advantages and objects will become more apparent from the specification and drawings.